When the Boston Red Sox acquired Dustin May from the Los Angeles Dodgers, he was expected to help his new team win a few more games.
A few weeks removed from the Rafael Daves deal, which many assumed was a concerted effort for Boston to take a step back and stop gunning for the playoffs in 2025, the Red Sox decided to be buyers at the 2025 MLB trade deadline and handed a few prospects to the reigning World Series Champions for a player they believed could be a starting caliber arm into October.
Instead, they landed a player who has been downright bad in Boston red and white so far, with May's ERA up to 5.01 on the season and 5.68 post-trade.
Talking to reporters after his latest outing against the Pittsburgh Pirates, a game where fans actively called him a bit on social media after allowing eight hits, seven runs, and four walks versus just five strikeouts, May admitted to The Boston Globe's Tim Healey that he's disappointed in his own play, as it wasn't what the Red Sox traded for.
“I got traded over here to help,” May said, “and I feel like I've done the opposite.”
Over his first five games in Boston, May has been hammered hard, surrendering 17 runs over 25.1 innings of action, leading to a 1-4 record for a Red Sox team fighting tooth and nail just to get into the playoffs. While May can still zip a curveball away that leaves fans in awe and has the power to remain an enticing option even when his command isn't necessarily there, the fact that he can't keep things consistent from game to game has now left two fanbases frustrated this season, with more potential heartbreak to come down the stretch.
Could May still end up in the bullpen before the end of the season? Potentially so, which may be a role he would thrive in, but considering he's set to become a free agent at the end of the season, that likely isn't the role May was expecting when he joined the Red Sox at the deadline.
